Elléna Lourens
Is our artist line-up for Tangi Instervention Program 2023
South African artist Elléna Lourens began her creative journey during her school years, exploring both personal and collaborative projects. Over time, she has developed a multidisciplinary practice spanning illustration, street art, painting, and embroidery. Her work resonates with a contemporary sensibility while drawing on historical references, using ancient symbols, patterns, and color schemes to create visual narratives that redefine emotional iconography.
Fully immersed in the creative world, Lourens collaborates with established artists, participates in exhibitions, and contributes murals both locally and internationally. Her style reflects a balance between precision and fluidity, allowing her to translate complex cultural and emotional themes into accessible public artworks.
Lourens’ murals are designed to engage viewers, fostering dialogue between communities and artistic expression. By integrating local cultural elements with her own aesthetic, she creates works that are simultaneously personal and universal, connecting diverse audiences through visual storytelling. Her practice embodies both a commitment to craft and a dedication to the transformative potential of art in public spaces.
Elléna Lourens was invited to contribute to the Tangi Intervention Program, part of the ongoing Tangi Street Art Festival initiative to integrate art throughout Bali year-round. The program encourages artists to transform public spaces into living canvases, enriching the urban environment beyond the main festival.
In 2023, Lourens collaborated on a high-visibility wall in Mas, Ubud, an ideal location for merging local culture with her distinctive artistic approach. The project exemplified Tangi’s mission to foster continuous artistic expression, cultural exchange, and community engagement.
Through this intervention, Lourens’ mural connected South African visual aesthetics with Balinese traditions, creating a cross-cultural dialogue accessible to both local and international audiences. Her work demonstrates the festival’s dedication to meaningful, immersive public art, emphasizing that each mural is more than a decoration—it is a conversation, a bridge between places and people, and a contribution to Bali’s evolving urban narrative.
Elléna Lourens’ mural was installed on a prominent wall in Mas, Ubud, a location with thousands of daily passersby, ensuring her work would reach a wide and diverse audience. The site allowed her to merge local Balinese culture with her own South African artistic language, creating a dialogue between tradition and contemporary expression.
She spent two full days painting, dedicating meticulous attention to detail and color, ensuring the mural reflected both her vision and respect for the community. Beyond the act of painting, Lourens immersed herself in Ubud for four days, exploring local traditions, observing cultural practices, and drawing inspiration from the island’s rich artistic heritage.
This engagement exemplifies the core philosophy of the Tangi Intervention Program, which emphasizes cultural exchange as much as artistic production. Lourens’ mural became a bridge between continents, fusing visual aesthetics and storytelling traditions from South Africa and Bali into a cohesive piece. The work not only enhanced the visual landscape of Ubud but also fostered connection and understanding between diverse communities. Through this experience, Lourens’ mural embodies the festival’s mission of making art a living, evolving part of the city, resonating with both locals and visitors alike.